Mum's visit

Last December when I was in Surabaya, I took my mother back to Bali for a month vacation. She was excited since it had been forever since she had any vacation at all. She was also curious how her daughters were doing in this island. Consequently we also took Michelle with us. The little girl was even more ecstatic to be back in Bali.

But as soon as we arrived here, I was faced with the fact that I had to research for a new house. The previous house we lived in was getting more and more uncomfortable after we found out that our neighbour seemed to be interested in being a dog breeder. In this case a breeder that did not intend to teach his dogs to behave. So they barked and howled night and day, 24/7 and it got to our nerves because we never had quality sleep. We always woke up with a giant dark shadow under our eyes and got headache at work.

After 2 weeks searching, we decided that we would take a house in Kerobokan area. Then the whole Christmas-New Year-moving thing completely occupied us that I finally didn't spend as much time as I wanted with my mother outside the house and showed her my Bali. There were always small things to attend to or take care of and my mother ended up being entertained only in her room with the TV.

However, she looked very happy despite the fact that her visit was like only moving from one bed to another. But I was not convinced that I had done enough for her vacation in Bali.

So the last day she was here, I took her out to the beach (not exactly the feeling-the-sand-at-the-beach kind of thing since it was raining) but we had a nice Mexican lunch at a restaurant by the beach. And she was already happy to be overlooking the sea while having a meal. Then I took her shopping for some clothes and finally we went to Ace Hardware to buy a toaster she'd wanted.

Overall, I just felt like a child again. I went back and forth to Surabaya and I never had a weird feeling about my mother until I had her here. It felt very good to have my mom here, not because she took over my kitchen and cooked us great meals, but because of her presence. I guess it has been a while since I decided to move out of the house and I missed the feeling of my old home all this time.

Also because of the fact that I was slapped by the harsh reality that I just realised that my cheerful, self-proclaimed-to-be-always-17-year-old mother was getting old and weak. And that we had been taking her for granted all this freaking time.

I was so ashamed of myself, but at the same time I was grateful to have a wonderful mom like her.